Jan 12, 2022

If you are in any way associated with pilot training either as a pilot, an instructor, an aviation training institution operator, or working at a flight school, you are familiar with the massive discrepancies between individuals becoming student pilots, and the number that ultimately becomes professional pilots here in the United States. This discrepancy is that of the approximately 50,000 student pilot registration with the FAA each year only a fraction of those make it through the pipeline of approximately three years of training into professional pilot careers.

Key Takeaways

1. There is a discrepancy between the number of student pilots signing up each year to become pilots and the number of pilots eventually becoming professional pilots in the United States aviation industry.
2. Pilot training itself is difficult and plays a role in this discrepancy.
3. Service providers such as pilot training institutions and individual instructors’ modes of operation also contribute to the discrepancy.
4. Industry structure itself plays a role in the discrepancy.

There are myriad reasons put forth by stakeholders in the aviation training space as to why this is so. The challenge is that no one can pinpoint any one factor for this problem as there is no individual cause that can be pointed at and be rectified immediately. The entire situation is so nuanced that not even the institutions that train pilots can put their finger on this problem, even though their very survival depends on it. Why is it that with approximately 50,000 new student pilot licenses being issued each year by the FAA, only a fraction of those ends up becoming professional pilots? In this article, we will look at the discrepancy between student pilots' registration, and the fraction of those who end up getting to a professional pilot career here in the US.

The Path

Once an individual decides that they would like to become a professional pilot, there is a specific path that must be taken as laid out primarily by Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulation (14 CFR). The general overview of this path is as follows:

1. The individual gets an airman medical and a student pilot certificate.
2. Choosing the appropriate medium for training vis-à-vis, Part 61 or Part 141 of 14 CFR. The latter generally relates to training in a highly structured pilot training institution, while the former is training with an individual flight instructor or a less structured or more flexible training institution.
3. As per the FAA 1500 Hour Rule, after getting all their certificates and ratings necessary, individuals will need to build 1500 hours needed to acquire the airline transport pilot license (ATP). The most cost-effective way to do this is to become a flight instructor working for themselves or in an institution, where the hours can be built while training others and getting paid to do so. There’s also the Restricted ATP. This relates to individuals who are getting their pilot training through a Part 141 program with a degree attached. That allows the individual to gain the ATP rating with lower hours requirement. 
4. Once the respective hours have been gained and an ATP has been acquired - with the current demand for pilots, sometimes even prior to an ATP -  individuals are able to apply to the airlines for work as an airline pilot.

Something to note here is that not all pilots end up in the airlines. There are other jobs that require an ATP that does not involve the airlines. Jobs such as flying corporate jets under Part 135 of 14 CFR. For context, the airlines operate under Part 121 of 14 CFR. Pilots without an ATP rating and fewer hours may also find professional careers also in Part 135 where an ATP rating is not required. There are also jobs as professional pilots flying under Part 91 of 14 CFR. In essence, there are a couple of options for a professional pilot career across the entire aviation industry. Nonetheless, the most sought-after job in civil aviation is an airline pilot.

Flight Schools and Independent Flight Instructors

Pilot training institutions in individuals providing pilot training generally operate on slim margins. Therefore every effort is made to reduce the cost to compensate for the low margins. These cost reduction practices have an undesirable side effect especially from the side of the customers of schools and individual instructors - the student pilots themselves. In another article, we will talk in more detail about the industry structure that makes up the aviation training industry, and give more details as to why it is that a lot of the operators in this industry are operating on razor-thin margins with the inability to effect much change even at a local level. For now, let us focus our attention on the quality of a service provided by schools and instructors as it relates to pilot training.

The high cost of input factors for providing the service of pilot training causes the service to be relatively high. To make up for these and low margins, flight schools and instructors tend to try to compensate with volume. This volume in itself inherently causes quality to fall. In some cases, this increased volume does not necessarily positively affect the price being charged for the service itself. This leads to a knock-on effect where students believe that they’re paying a lot for the service yet not getting the highest quality, further contributing to the dropout rate. It is clear that becoming a pilot is one of the most difficult things an individual could endeavor to do, and it requires instructors and the institution within which they work to provide an extremely high level of attention and quality of training to make the experience not only manageable but pleasant for their clients (the student pilot). 

Another major challenge with flight schools and individual instructors is the use of outdated and in many cases antiquated processes and management technologies for providing pilot training services. The average flight school and individual instructor operate with processes, tools, and technologies that are on average 15 to 20 years in the past when compared to technology being used by other industries, or even other segments within the aviation industry itself. This further exacerbates the problem of having younger clients (student pilots) that are used to more high-tech - and expect such, to be dealing with low-tech processes and tools which further widen the disconnect between client and service provider and the institution themselves with relation to the service being provided. However, in the defense of pilot training institutions and individual instructors, margins are sometimes so low that there is generally very little left over to invest in new processes or technology.

Pilot Training vs Professional Pilot Careers

As of 2019, the FAA records show approximately 45,000 to 50,000 new student pilot certificates issued each year. Yet only a third of this number ends up becoming pilots here in the United States overall, and only a fraction of the number leftover end up in the airlines. The previous section laid out why there are some dropouts from when an individual becomes a student pilot to becoming a professional pilot. In this section, we will talk about some of the other factors that cause the discrepancy between those who register to become student pilots and those who will take up professional pilot careers here in the United States.

1. Pilot training itself. Many individuals take up pilot training because of the opulence and somewhat prestige that surrounds the career. However, many individuals are not prepared for the level of work and dedication necessary to get even their first pilot license which is a private pilot, recreational pilot, or sport pilot license.
2. Challenges outside of pilot training itself. As mentioned in the previous section, the structure of the pilot training industry is one that exerts additional stress and pressure on the individual seeking to become a professional pilot. This additional pressure exerts tremendous force on individuals who are not fully committed to becoming a pilot. When coupled with the difficulty in the training itself, this can be a powerful incentive for those who were initially not sure if this is the path for them, to quit.
3. The cost of training. If you have met anyone that has tried to become a pilot or is currently a pilot, one of the first things they will tell you about becoming a pilot is the massive cost in monetary terms of trying to do so. It is quite expensive to become a pilot, more so because this expense is outlay upfront and in a very short period of time relative to other forms of training. This in itself could be the largest factor driving out a lot of newly minted student pilots out of the industry.
4. Training overseas pilots. An estimated 1/3 of the pilots trained in the United States each year are from other countries primarily in Europe and Asia. While this may not seem like it’s a contributing factor to the discrepancy between the number of pilots signing up each year for student pilots and those ending up in the US airlines, it actually does. Pilots trained for other countries end up leaving the United States to go fly for the country from which they came. A corollary to this problem is that not only does the US professional pilot industry not get these pilots, it also does not get the flight instructors from this cohort. Flight instructors are vital to keeping the US pilot training segment properly operating.

While it is clear to the average observer that there’s a major discrepancy between the number of student pilots entering pilot training each year and those who end up becoming professional pilots; what is not so clear is the cause of this problem. In this article, we laid out some of the major factors causing this discrepancy without giving any specific recommendations as to how to tackle this problem. Part of the reason is that this problem is related to a specific industry structure. In order to affect a change, the forces must be strong enough to affect a change in the overall structure of the pilot training industry at least at a local level. One thing is for sure, pilot training institutions and individual instructors operate the way they do, be that taking on international students or using outdated processes and technologies, in order to survive in a highly competitive and regulated industry for which they have very little control over how the forces in that industry impinge upon their ability to operate successfully. One final note, there is a correlation between the number of pilots being trained and the pilot shortage. Yet, it must be remembered that correlation does not equal causation.

Go to: All articles